The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Embodiments relate to compositions and methods for treating subterranean formations, in particular, oilfield stimulation compositions and methods using essentially non-crystalline gelling agents.
It is known that guar molecules can be crystallized into several forms of crystals with different amount of water and under different crystallization processes. For example, when producing powdered guar, the guar bean splits are soaked in water to be swollen. The swollen guar splits are grinded to smaller pieces. The swollen guar is softer and allows for easy grinding without much damage to polymer chain. The smaller pieces are then grinded and drying at the same time to even smaller pieces until finally they are powders. Water is gradually driven out of the system as the process continues but is generally not completely removed. Guar based polysaccharides have multiple opportunities to be crystallized into different crystalline form throughout this process. Thus a way to disrupt the crystalline structure is expected to be useful in improving hydration and ultimately, fluids used in the treatment of subterranean formations.